Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16)
teaches us that all that we have, apart from our sin, is received from
God as a gift of His grace. We must remember this when, like Job, we are
going through hard times. We don’t have the right to expect everything
to be going great all the time. When we are enjoying the Lord’s
blessing, we must never forget that this is not something we have
earned. It’s the blessing of His grace, the blessing which has been
given to us by the Lord. The more we come to know His blessing, the more
we will have confidence to say, “I call on You, O God, for You will
answer me” (Psalm 17:6).
There is to be prayer from “every one who lives in the land” (Joel 1:14). It is to be personal prayer - “O Lord, I cry to You for help!” (Joel 1:19). These two belong together - prayer for the nation and personal prayer. This is expressed so well in the words: “O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee. Send a revival. Start the work in me.” We hear the words, “Return to the Lord, your God” (Joel 2:13). They are followed by some wonderful words about the character of God - “He is merciful and compassionate, patient and always ready to forgive and to change His plans about disaster” (Joel 2:13). How do we know that God is like this? We look at what He has done for us - “Be glad and rejoice. The Lord has done great things!” (Joel 2:21). Looking at all that the Lord has done for us, we trust His promise: “Whoever calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32). This salvation is more than forgiveness for past sins. It’s more than the future glory of being in God’s ev...
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